BT 930 
.S5 

Copy 1 



Class 

Book 

Copyright N°_ 

COPYRIGHT ©EPOSm 



COPYRIGHT 19 2 0 
BY 

E. P. SIMPSON 



FROM THE PRESS OF 
THE INDEX PRINTING CO. 
ATLANTA, GA. 



Seven Proofs 

That All Men Are Not 
Immortal 

AND OTHER 

Great Bible Themes 



BY 

E. P. SIMPSON 



•Sir 



CONTENTS. 

Page 

I. Introduction 3 

II. Seven Proofs That All Men Are 

Not Immortal 11 

III. God: The One Eternal Spirit 47 

IV. The Seven Eesurrections and the 

Seven Translations -77 



DEC 15 1920 
©CU604567 



*W0 I 



INTRODUCTION. 



The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but 
those things which are revealed belong unto us and to 
our children for ever. Deuteronomy 29:29. 

With the old time Calvinists, the 
writer of the three short papers follow- 
ing holds that the Bible, from Genesis 
to Revelation, in the language original- 
ly given, is the Word of God to us, and 
our only guide. 

That all Scripture being given by in- 
spiration of God, is profitable and 
should be preached whether popular or 
otherwise. Second Tim. 3:16. 

That all men have sinned and come 
short of the glory of God; therefore the 
new birth, and not the cultivation of an 
imaginary "Divine spark in every 
man," is necessary if we would see God. 
Rom. 5:12. . 

That eternal life is the gift of God, 
through faith in Christ; therefore sal- 
vation is by grace alone. Rom. 6 :23. 

That notwithstanding this great fact, 
the "Ifs," the conditions attaching to all 
of God's promises, are not being given 



3 



their proper emphasis in the preaching 
of our day; therefore the doctrine of 
"unconditional election" is a perversion 
of the truth of God. Second Tim, 
2:11, 12, Rom. 8:17. 

That the believer, the born-again-one, 
is eternally saved ; therefore cannot fall 
from grace and be lost. John 6 :47. 

That the full assurance of salvation 
is the possible heritage of every child 
of God; therefore the Christian who 
lives in continual doubt of possessing 
life eternal, is dishonoring the Word of 
God, and bringing upon himself and 
those he comes in contact with unhappi- 
ness and lessened usefulness. 1st John 
3:14. 

That God's Spirit is Christ's Spirit; 
therefore the Holy Ghost is the omni- 
present, Spiritual manifestation of both 
the Father and the Son, and not a sepa- 
rate and distinct person of the God- 
head, as is usually taught. Rom. 8:9. 

That since Christ alone, as affirmed 
in First Timothy 6:16, possesses in- 



4 



herently immortality, no man is or can 
become immortal, except through ac- 
ceptance of Jesus Christ as his Lord 
and Master; therefore all men are not 
immortal as is commonly taught. 

That the law of tithing has never 
been repealed ; therefore we are robbing 
God, and missing great blessings, when 
we withhold from His service His just 
proportion of our income. Malachi 
3:8 to 10. 

That the God-man, Christ Jesus, is 
coming back to this earth again at the 
close of this dispensation, to be invested 
by the Father with great power and 
glory, and after the judgment described 
in Matthew twenty-five, will reign as 
King of kings and Lord of lords, for a 
thousand years over the earth; there- 
fore this judgment scene is wholly 
separate from that of Revelation 20:11 
to 15, — a millennium of years inter- 
vening. Acts 1 :11. 

That before Christ appears again 
there will be an "out resurrection' ' from 
among the saved dead of an elect num- 

5 



ber of approved members of the body 
of Christ, who together with the liv- 
ing "vessels of honor/' will be caught 
up "unto His throne," as described in 
Revelation 12:5, this chosen number 
composing the Bride of Christ. Phili- 
ians 3:11. p 

That following this marvelous event, 
the Anti-Christ will manifest himself, 
and the great tribulation begin. Second 
Thess. 2:3 to 9. 

That during this awful time of trou- 
ble, those of the Lord's true people, left 
on the earth on account of unprepared- 
ness, will awake and go forth to all the 
peoples of the world as spirit filled mis- 
sionaries, resulting in the conversion of 
a number so great that they cannot be 
counted, as described in Revelation 7 :9, 
(see also in this connection, Rev. chap- 
ter twelve) : therefore it behooves ev- 
ery Christian to heed the admonition 
given in Romans 12:1, 2. 

That afterward when Christ mani- 
fests Himself, accompanied by His 
Bride, there will be a resurrection of 

6 



the dead in Christ still remaining in 
their graves (First Thess. 4:13 to 17) ; 
that part of the wicked dead, the hein- 
ously wicked, including, doubtless, the 
"rich man" of Luke sixteen, will be 
resurrected and cast into hell at this 
time to suffer during Christ's reign on 
earth, the thousand years. Dan. 12 :2, 
Rev. 11:18. 

That at the close of the millennial 
dispensation of Christ, the rest of the 
wicked of all ages will be brought before 
God the Father, at the judgment of the 
"Great White Throne," for final judg- 
ment, and will be "cast into the lake of 
fire" which is the "second death," there- 
by ceasing to exist; therefore the doc- 
trine of the eternal, conscious punish- 
ment of the unsaved is not taught in the 
Bible. Rev. 20:13, 14, Matt. 10:28. 

These conclusions have been arrived 
at after a long and patient study of the 
Bible extending over a period of nearly 
forty years, and without claim of origi- 
nality are published with the hope that 
those of the Lord's people who are inter- 

7 



ested in the things of God may rejoice, 
as the writer has, in re-discovering 
some precious truths long partly hid- 
den in the many and various systems of 
doctrine, "and so much the more as we 
see the day approaching." Heb. 10:25. 

E. P. S. 

Toccoa, Georgia. 



8 



SEVEN PROOFS THAT ALL MEN 
ARE NOT IMMORTAL 



SEVEN PROOFS THAT ALL MEN 
ARE NOT IMMORTAL. 



In the total absence of a single state- 
ment, in the original Scriptures, in 
proof of man's natural immortality, is 
it not rather marvelous, that the vast 
majority of the human race believe it? 

Most of the higher critics, including 
infidels and heathen philosophers, in- 
sist upon the theory, that all men are 
immortal. 

Up to a few years ago, to give ex- 
pression to even a doubt concerning it, 
brought down upon one's head the 
anathemas of the orthodox and the 
ridicule of the worldly wise. Espec- 
ially has this been true in the South. 

Much discussion of the question, how- 
ever, in recent years, and separation of 
the idea from Russelism and other 
false systems of doctrine have lessened, 
to some extent, opposition to the teach- 
ing. 

11 



Seven Proofs That All 



Our belief is, that we shall be able 
to show that the first paragraph of this 
article cannot be disproved. 

Lowell said: 

"I honor the man who is willing to sink 
Half his present repute for freedom to think, 
And when he has thought, be the matter strong 
or weak, 

Will risk the other half for freedom to speak, 
Caring nought for what vengeance the mob has 

in store, 

Let that mob be the upper ten thousand or 
lower. ' ' 

John Milton said: 

"Give me the liberty to know, to utter and 
argue freely, according to conscience, above all 
liberties." 

Somewhere I have seen this : 

"He that cannot think is a fool, 
He that will not think is a bigot, 
He that does not think is a slave." 

To which we add: He that thinks, 
but does not make known his thoughts, 
is a coward. 

Henry Ward Beecher said: "Think- 
ing cannot be clear till it has had ex- 
pression. We must write, or speak, or 
12 



Men Are Not Immortal 

act our thoughts, or they will remain in 
a half torpid form. 

Our feelings must have expression or 
they will be as clouds, which, till they 
descend in rain, will never bring up 
flowers or fruit. So it is with all the 
inward feelings; expression gives them 
development. 

Thought is the blossom ; language the 
opening bud; actions the fruit behind 
it." 

My object in quoting from these great 
thinkers, is to offer, to possible readers, 
a reason for attempting to write upon 
so vast a subject. 

I have, in common with a multitude 
of others, been deeply troubled over the 
question, so often asked: "Since God 
has power to arrest Satan and confine 
him in hell for a thousand years, as de- 
scribed in Rev. 20 :l-3, an act yet in the 
future; why did He not exercise that 
power when Satan entered the Garden 
of Eden, instead of in the end time, and 

13 



Seven Proofs That All 



thereby prevent the terrible sufferings 
of mankind these six thousand years?" 

The only satisfactory way to solve 
this problem of problems, is to let God 
answer the great question Himself. 

This, we believe, He graciously and 
clearly does in the only inspired Book 
in the world. Therefore we shall draw 
our proofs from that source alone. 

It is not claimed that new truth has 
been discovered, "for there is nothing 
new that is true;" we shall simply call 
attention to and emphasize in a new 
way obvious facts that the many have 
not taken time to observe. 

FIRST PROOF 

The first of the Seven reasons for not 
believing in the natural immortality of 
man is: That God, in His love and 
mercy, prevented man from becoming 
immortal in sin. 

For proof of this let us take Genesis 
3:22-24: "And the Lord God said, Be- 

14 



Men Are Not Immortal 

hold, the man is become as one of us, to 
know good and evil; and now, lest he 
put forth his hand, and take also of the 
tree of life, and eat, and live forever: 
Therefore the Lord God sent him forth 
from the garden of Eden, to till the 
ground from whence he was taken. 

So He drove out the man: and He 
placed at the East of the garden of 
Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword 
which turned every way, to keep the 
way of the tree of life." 

Why did God guard the entrance to 
the Garden of Eden so zealously? 

Note how perfectly He answers the 
question in the quotation above: "lest 
he put forth his hand and take also of 
the Tree of Life and eat and live for- 
ever" : becoming thereby a never-dying 
sinner — a "deathless/' immortal soul. 
What a deliverance ! 

All because of His great love for man, 
whom he had created in His own image 
and after His own likeness and for His 
own companionship. 

15 



Seven Proofs That All 

It is remarkable how studiously all 
the orthodox commentators, who teach 
that all men are immortal, pass by these 
texts in the third chapter of Genesis, 
and many others, equally difficult, with- 
out even an attempt at explanation. 

Is the reason for this not to be found 
in the fact that, until late years, the 
god of this world, Satan, has blinded 
the eyes of the Lord's people to this and 
other great truths lying on the very 
surface of His Word? 

An ever increasing number think so. 

Is it not strange that God's own chil- 
dren should be taking sides with "that 
Old Serpent, called the Devil and Satan, 
who deceiveth the whole world/' by con- 
tinuing to teach men that they "shall 
not surely die," when Gods says they 
shall die, (unless saved through a com- 
ing Redeemer) thereby believing Satan 
and making God a liar? (Gen. 3:3, 4). 
"But of the fruit of the tree which is in 
the midst of the garden, God hath said, 



16 



Men Are Not Immortal 

Ye shall not eat of it; lest ye die. And 
the Serpent said unto the woman, Ye 
shall not surely die." 

One commentator has said : "Both in 
Scripture and common language, soul 
is sometimes used for the person, that 
is, the entire man, body, soul and 
spirit" This we must believe in the 
light of other Scriptures confirming this 
view, is what God meant in this pass- 
age in Genesis, in the deepest sense, for 
had not Adam believed in the coming 
Redeemer, thereby becoming immortal, 
he would certainly have suffered both 
the natural death of the body, and ulti- 
mately, the death of the resurrected 
body, soul and spirit in the "lake of 
fire," which is "the Second death." 

An eminent Presbyterian preacher 
has well said : "As the death of the nat- 
ural body is real, why will not that of 
the body, soul and spirit — the whole 
man — in the second death be real?" 



17 



Seven Proofs That All 



In perfect agreement with what has 
preceded is Ezekiel 18:20. "The soul 
that sinneth it shall die." 

And again Malachi says in chapter 
four, first verse: "For behold the day 
cometh that shall burn as an oven ; and 
all the proud, yea, and all that do wick- 
edly, shall be stubble, and the day that 
cometh shall burn them up, saith the 
Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them 
neither root nor branch" — according 
precisely with the above. 

SECOND PROOF. 

In Isaiah 1:18, 19, God condescend- 
ingly says to us rebellious sinners; 
"Come now, and let us reason together, 
saith the Lord : though your sins be as 
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; 
though they be red like crimson, they 
shall be as wool. 

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall 
eat the good of the land." 

"If ye be willing !" How patient and 
long-suffering God is with self-willed 
man. 

18 



Men Are Not Immortal 

God here asks us to come to Him and 
"reason together" Now is the doctrine 
of the conscious, everlasting punishment 
of the unsaved in hell fire, with Satan 
and his fallen angels, a reasonable doc- 
trine? 

The quick answer of the super-ortho- 
dox is : Whether reasonable or not it is 
the teaching of the Bible beyond con- 
troversy. 

It is granted that, according to the 
King James version, it is taught; but 
was the Word of God given to us in that 
version? 

Every Bible student knows that the 
word rendered, in our common version, 
"everlasting," "eternal," as applied to 
the punishment of the wicked, should be 
rendered, "age lasting"— or "unto the 
ages" — limiting the time, either to the 
coming age or unto some other age. 

Was it not "adding to" the Word of 
God for our translators to render the 
Greek word aonian "everlasting," or 

19 



Seven Proofs That All 



"eternal," when God meant for us to 
understand that the punishment is to 
be only age lasting? 

To confute this argument, the point 
is made that in Matthew 25 :46, exactly 
the same word is used to describe the 
duration of the life of the righteous as 
that of the wicked ; therefore, the wick- 
ed must exist forever, since the right- 
eous certainly do. 

But when we remember that Matthew 
25 is a description of Christ's Pre-mil- 
lennial Judgment of the living nations 
on earth, — not one word being said 
about the resurrection of the dead, we 
are obliged to see that it is a judgment 
based upon the treatment, by the Gen- 
tile Nations, of His brethren, the Jews. 
Those who have treated them justly will 
enter into "life for the age." Those 
guilty of unjust acts toward His breth- 
ren, in addition to having neglected the 
Gospel Message, will be given over to 
age lasting punishment. 



20 



Men Are Not Immortal 

"Life for the age" will simply mean 
the privilege of entering into the renew- 
ed earthly Kingdom of the Lord Jesus 
Christ for the period of the millennial 
age, or a thousand years, as the word 
means. 

Dr. J. B. Moody in the Baptist Forum 
for December 1911, speaking of the 
many inaccuracies of our common ver- 
sion of the Bible, says : "The Bible So- 
ciety that publishes and sells the auth- 
orized version, acknowledged in 1852 
that said version contained nearly 
twenty-four thousand errors!" 

Why have not our highly educated 
preachers called attention to this stu- 
pendous fact before? I honor Dr. 
Moody for his boldness in denouncing 
the authors of the King James version 
of the Scriptures. 

In strong contrast with Dr. Moody's 
faithfulness here, is an article in the 
same magazine entitled, "Is there a 
Hell, and is it Eternal?" by Dr. George 

21 



Seven Proofs That All 



A. Lofton, in which he defends this de- 
fective translation in very strenuous 
language. 

He quotes, with fullest approval, 
Matt. 25 :46, "And these shall go away 
into eternal punishment, but the right- 
eous into eternal life," and comments as 
follows: "The word 'eternal' in this 
verse is the translation of the Greek 
word 'aionian,' and is the same definit- 
ive in both clauses of the same sentence 
of both punishment and life hereafter, 
hence the word 'eternal' means the same 
in both clauses. If the life of the right- 
eous is to be eternal, the punishment of 
the unrighteous is to be eternal." Such 
xranslation and application of this 
passage is no longer accepted without 
question. 

Dr. Lofton, knowing that the word 
"eternal" means without beginning and 
never ending, would have us believe it 
is the proper rendering of the Greek 
"aionion" meaning "age lasting" or 
"unto the ages." 

22 



Men Are Not Immortal 

It is admitted that the word means 
the same in both clauses of the forty- 
sixth verse, but since all punishment 
must have a beginning, eternal there- 
fore, cannot be the proper rendering. 

When the simple truth is seen that 
the Lord is referring only to the age of 
His reign on the earth for the thousand 
years, and His millennial judgment 
of the living nations, as noted before, 
the difficulty vanishes. 

In a note on Revelation 20:14, Dr. 
C. I. Scofield comments as follows: 
"Second death .... their eternal 
state is one of eternal death, (that is, 
separation from God in sins, John 
8:21-24)" — meaning, as his further 
statements prove, that the "second 
death" is not death at all, but, eternal 
life in the lake of fire. 

Is it not pertinent to ask : Has a com- 
mentator not overstepped the bounds of 
his privilege when he defines a word in 



23 



Seven Proofs That All 



such a way as to practically "add to" 
the Word of God? 

If God had purposed to prolong the 
lives of the unsaved, in the "lake of 
fire," to all eternity. He would have 
used a term unmistakable in its mean- 
ing. 

Splitting theological hairs over plain 
language, in attempting to make it ac- 
cord with orthodox systems of doctrine, 
cannot be pleasing to God. 

Dr. Scofield continues: "That the 
second death is not annihilation is 
shown by a comparison of Rev. 19:20 
with Rev. 20:10. After one thousand 
years in the lake of fire the Beast and 
False Prophet are still undestroyed." 
He overlooks the important fact that 
the "Second death" sentence is not to 
be pronounced until the very close of 
the millennial age, when God alone sits 
upon the "Great White Throne," who 
only according to Christ's own words in 
Matthew 10:28, has power to destroy 



24 



Men Are Not Immortal 

(annihilate) "both soul and body in 
hell." Since He has power to absolutely 
destroy, He surely has power to hold in 
life, in the lake of fire, or any other 
place of punishment, the heinously 
wicked, for any specific time He 
chooses — in this instance, a thousand 
years. The additional fact that the 
Beast and False Prophet are to be "tor- 
mented day and night, for the age of 
the ages," or unto the ages of the ages, 
intimates strongly that there will be a 
termination of punishment. "Unto" a 
certain age does not mean forever. 
And "day and night" is not a term that 
will apply in the eternal state. 

If the One Who is Love, as well as 
Justice, will be satisfied, why should we 
"add to" the definition of the word and 
thereby teach that the punishment will 
be prolonged to all eternity? How 
could it glorify God, or benefit any of 
His creatures? 

Again the same commentator, in his 
reference to Heb. 1:8, neglected to ac- 

25 



Seven Proofs That All 



knowledge the force of the first clause : 
"But unto the Son He (the Father) 
saith, Thy throne, 0 God, is forever 
and ever" — that is, as in the original, 
"unto the ages of the ages." 

It is the Father speaking of the dura- 
tion of the Personal reign of the Son. 

Christ's individual, personal reign 
over the earth is clearly limited to the 
termination of the millennial age, as is 
proven by 1st Cor. 15:28. 

Dr. Hodge (in Systematic Theology) 
says : "If God's favor be forfeited, the 
inevitable consequences are the death of 
the soul, that is, its loss of Spiritual life 
and unending sinfulness and misery" 

Here we have another assumption in 
the statement that the loss of spiritual 
life, means unending existence in sin- 
fulness and misery. Why should it? 

In the Century Dictionary we find 
this definition of "man's immortality." 
"Man is immortal, not because he was 
created so, but because he has become 



26 



Men Are Not Immortal 



so — " (or, as we believe, may become 
so), deriving his deathlessness from 
Him who alone hath immortality. 

Which is the more reasonable, this 
definition or the two preceding? Or 
which accords with the Scriptures and 
gives most glory and honor to the Son 
of God? 

In confirmation of Dr. Moody's 
statement, Walter Scott says in his 
"Story of the English Bible:" "It may 
interest the reader to have a copy of the 
instructions and rules issued by the 
King for the guidance of the transla- 
tors." 

"First: The ordinary Bible read in 
the Church, commonly called 'The 
Bishop's Bible/ to be followed and as 
little altered as the original will permit. 

Second : The old ecclesiastical words 
to be kept, as for instance, the word 
'Church' not to be translated 'congre- 
gation' 

Fourth : When any word hath divers 
significations, that to be kept which 
27 



Seven Proofs That All 



hath been most commonly used by the 
most eminent fathers, being agreeable 
to the propriety of the place and the 
analogies of faith." 

The King later issued another rule 
setting over the original forty-seven 
translators, "three or four of the most 
ancient and grave divines, not employ- 
ed in translating, for the better obser- 
vation of the fourth rule, regarding 
changes in old ecclesiastical words." 

The famous Dr. M ? Knight said of 
the King James version : "It was made 
a little too complaisant to the King in 
following his notions of predestination, 
election, witchcraft, familiar spirits, 
and Kingly rights, and these, it is prob- 
able, were the translator's, opinions. 
That their translation is partial, speak- 
ing the language of, and giving author- 
ity to, one sect." 

And according to Dr. Gill it was 
' 'Wrested and partial, and only adapted 
to one sect. Some of the translators 

28 



Men Are Not Immortal 

complained that they could not follow 
their own judgment in the matter, but 
were restrained by reasons of State." 

These were some of the reasons there 
have been revisions of this very defect- 
ive translation. 

THIRD PROOF. 

In Romans 2 :7, God bids us "seek for 
immortality" (or deathlessness as some 
say it should be translated). If we 
possess it already, why are we directed 
to seek it? 

Since "all scripture is given by in- 
spiration of God and is profitable for 
reproof" etc., are we not risking much 
in continuing to follow the heathen 
philosophers and the higher critics of 
our day in teaching that all men are 
immortal — have the "spark of Divin- 
ity in them" — as frequently expressed 
in these days? 

FOURTH PROOF. 

God, in Christ, alone possesses, in- 
herently, immortality; therefore, only 

29 



Seven Proofs That All 



those who accept Christ and become 
new creatures by His indwelling, are 
immortal. First Timothy 6:16, can be 
explained only in this way. To get the 
full sense of this passage it is necessary 
to quote the two preceding verses: 
"That thou keep this commandment 
without spot, unrebukable, until the 
appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 

Which in his times he shall show, who 
is the blessed and only Potentate, the 
King of Kings and Lord of Lords : 

Who only hath immortality, dwelling 
in the light which no man can approach 
unto ; whom no man hath seen, nor can 
see : to whom be honour and power 
everlasting. Amen." 

Paul says in Romans 6:23, "For the 
wages of sin is death, but the gift of 
God is eternal life, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord." Every one who ac- 
cepts Him, who alone possesses immor- 
tality, is "born from above" — has 
eternal life, that is, life without begin- 

30 



Men Are Not Immortal 



ning and never ending, because Christ, 
in Whom "dwelleth all the fulness of 
the Godhead bodily," indwells him. 

How can an unregenerate sinner, 
who must pay the "wages of sin," which 
ultimately is the "second death," claim 
the natural possession of immortality 
without flatly contradicting the Scrip- 
tures quoted? 

Most Christians have a more or less 
clear idea of what is meant by the term, 
"eternal life in Christ," but how few 
have any conception of w T hat is meant 
in the two words "second death." We 
have been taught from infancy, that the 
unsaved, who are to suffer the "second 
death" at "the judgment of the Great 
White Throne," are to live, conscious- 
ly enduring the torments of hell forever 
— or eternally as usually expressed. 
To teach that death means life is enough 
to cause Satan to rejoice at the credul- 
ity of man. 



31 



Seven Proofs That All 



FIFTH PROOF. 

Christ ascribes to God the Father in 
Matthew 20:28, the power to kill both 
body and soul in hell Carefully note 
the language. 

"And fear not them which kill the 
body, but are not able to kill the soul: 
but rather fear Him which is able to 
destroy both soul and body in hell." 

A very close and dear relative once 
said to me, "I cannot disprove your 
teaching on this subject, but it is so 
contrary to all I have heard in my long 
life that I must advise you to keep the 
matter to yourself— don't talk about 
it." 

I was at once reminded of the verse 
preceding the one just quoted and turn- 
ing to it read as follows : 

"What I tell you in darkness, that 
speak ye in light; and what ye hear in 
the ear, that preach ye upon the house- 
tops" 

Now, why not grant to God the 
power He claims: Is it not dishonor- 

32 



Men Are Not Immortal 

ing Him to teach that He cannot de- 
stroy that which He has created? 

SIXTH PROOF. 

God is a consuming fire, and will, re- 
gardless of Satan's lies in opposing this 
truth, consume, in His wrath, ulti- 
mately, every creature refusing to con- 
form to His will. "For our God is a 
consuming fire." (Heb. 12:29). 

SEVENTH PROOF. 

God exercises this power, claimed in 
Matthew 10:28, and Hebrews 12:29, 
when He sits alone upon the Great 
White Throne, at the end of Christ's 
reign over the earth, as described in 
Revelation 20:11-15. 

The question arises: What effect 
does this casting of the resurrected and 
living wicked into the "lake of fire 
which is the second death," have upon 
the bodies of the unsaved? 

We have the answer in Isaiah 66:23, 
24: "The carcasses of the men who 
have transgressed" against God, will 

33 



Seven Proofs That All 



remain, as a witness to the awful judg- 
ment of God in punishment of sin, to be 
looked upon by the saved, it would 
seem, upon occasion, but not the living, 
conscious, sensitive, never dying souls 
and bodies of the men and women made 
in God's image. 

There is a radical difference be- 
tween the Premillennial judgment, as 
described in Matthew 25, Daniel 7 and 
12, and Revelation 11 :18, and the judg- 
ment of the "Great White Throne," of 
Revelation 20:11-15. 

In the first, Christ sits with the 
Father, and the chief office in this judg- 
ment is committed to the Son, who is 
given power to condemn certain elect, 
heinous, sinners to conscious and ter- 
rible punishment in hell for a period of 
a thousand years only. At the expira- 
tion of this time the Devil is loosed out 
of his prison, the sea gives up its dead, 
and death and hell deliver up the dead 
which are in them, and all are brought 



84 



Men Are Not Immortal 



before God who sits upon the "Great 
White Throne/' the dead only being 
judged. 

It should be noticed that hell, the 
place to which Christ had a thousand 
years previously, consigned the most 
heinous sinners (the rich man of 
Luke sixteen, doubtless , among the 
number) to conscious punishment, gives 
up its occupants in order that they may 
be brought before God the Father for 
final judgment, when He will manifest 
Himself as a "consuming fire." We 
are not warranted in believing that all 
will be resurrected at the Second Com- 
ing of Christ. Daniel 12 :2, says : "And 
many of them that sleep in the dust of 
the earth shall rise, some to everlasting 
life, and some to shame and everlasting 
contempt/' 

Note the word "some" as applied to 
both the righteous and the wicked. 

In John 5 :28, 29, it is said: "Marvel 
not at this; for the hour (or period of 

35 



Seven Proofs That All 

time) is coming when all that are in the 
graves shall hear His voice ; 

And shall come forth ; they that have 
done good, unto the resurrection of 
life ; and they that have done evil, unto 
the resurrection of damnation." Hour 
in this verse means a long period of 
time, just as it does in the twenty-fifth 
verse of the same chapter, therefore, 
this passage is no proof, whatever, of a 
"general resurrection at the end of the 
world," as a great many believe. 

Some years ago I was handed a tract 
by a dear friend — a noted Baptist 
preacher of wide reputation for sound- 
ness in doctrine and consecrated life. 
After reading it I returned it to him 
with the question: "Why did you give 
me this tract, Doctor, for you surely do 
not believe its teachings, do you?" His 
reply was : "Don't press me for an an- 
swer. I am too old now to commence 
preaching that doctrine." 

It was entitled, "Our God a Consum- 
ing Fire," and taught in a very simple 

36 



Men Are Not Immortal 

but effective way, that God, the Crea- 
tor, is, also, God, the Consumer. 

Since that time I have met many 
preachers who believe just as I do on 
this subject, but do not preach it for 
fear their testimony may be injured or 
lessened. 

Instead of being a doctrine that ought 
not to be taught, I believe it is a truth 
that honors God, adds to the value of 
Christ's atoning sacrifice, and would, if 
properly and Scripturally taught, pre- 
vent many a thinking, sincere man from 
becoming skeptical: for the simple 
truth is, the old Calvinistic doctrine of 
the unconditional election of the few, 
and the "passing by" of the rest of man- 
kind, allowing them to drop into a hell 
of fire and brimstone, to suffer con- 
sciously, to all eternity, is enough to 
make infidels of thinking men. 

We have now reached the point, in 
considering this question of God's deal- 
ings with man, when the great one, pro- 

37 



Seven Proofs That All 



pounded in the beginning, can be an- 
swered in His own way. 

God created man, "in His own 
image, after His own likeness, and for 
His own glory and companionship." 
This last statement is proven by His 
coming down "in the cool of the day" 
and walking and talking with those in 
the Garden. 

It was soon shown, however, that God 
was not satisfied with "His crowning 
act of creation." Mere innocence was 
not enough to complete God's conception 
of an ideal earthly companion, which 
could really glorify Him. Therefore, 
He permitted Satan to enter the Gar- 
den and tempt, to their fall, Adam and 
Eve. 

Since all power in heaven and earth 
and hell is His, Satan certainly could 
not have entered without His consent. 
At this juncture the question of ques- 
tions, already stated, demands an an- 
swer, in plain, unequivocal language. 

38 



Men Are Not Immortal 

From the strictly orthodox viewpoint 
it cannot be answered. How could God, 
whose chief attribute is love, permit evil 
to enter His sacred enclosure unless a 
wise, benevolent and loving purpose 
was intended? Remember in this con- 
nection, 1st John 4:8, "He that loveth 
not knoweth not God ; for God is love." 

We contend that He had just such a 
purpose. 

In proof of this statement let us 
trace, in some detail, the history of a 
few of His chosen and tried people all 
down the ages. Since Job is probably 
the oldest book in the Bible we select 
the character therein described as our 
first illustration. 

The problem is, Why do the godly 
suffer? As Dr. Scofield puts it, it is 
solved in the last chapter. 

In the first verse of the first chapter, 
God gives us His estimate, at that time, 
of Job's character: "There was a man 
in the land of Uz, whose name was Job ; 

39 



Seven Proofs That All 



and that man was perfect and upright, 
and one that feared God, and eschewed 
evil." Still, notwithstanding this enu- 
meration of Job's virtues, God was not 
altogether pleased with him, which is 
proven by His allowing Satan to try 
him to the uttermost. 

Result what? Being brought into 
the presence of God, "Job is revealed to 
himself" as described in the last chap- 
ter of the book, and then acknowledges 
his nothingness when in God's presence. 
Before the trials and temptations of 
Satan, Job was righteous, certainly, for 
we have God's word for it, but mixed 
with real godliness was the element of 
self -righteousness, which displeased 
God. Satan was used of God to bring 
Job to a realization of himself. 

Jacob was one of God's chosen ones, 
but it required untold suffering, at the 
hands of Satan, through Laban's 
treachery, to bring him to the point of 
complete surrender to God. 

40 



Men Are Not Immortal 

Abraham was "the friend of God," 
but consider how greatly he was re- 
quired to suffer on account of his lack 
of perfect faith in God. 

David "was a man after God's own 
heart/ ' yet who had more trials, of ev- 
ery sort, than poor David? But what 
was the result? The 22, 23, and 24 
Psalms. 

Peter was a true disciple, but the 
Lord permitted Satan to sift him be- 
cause there was much in his character 
and life that was displeasing to God, 
therefore, Satan was used to bring him 
to a sense of his utter worthlessness 
apart from God. For results read the 
second chapter of the Acts. 

Paul was convicted of his self -right- 
eousness when he witnessed the stoning 
of Stephen. He was converted on the 
way to Damascus. He was disciplined 
during the three years he spent in the 
desert. He was buffeted of Satan dur- 
ing the whole of the remainder of his 

41 



Seven Proofs That All 



life, "lest he should be exalted above 
measure" 

If such discipline, such suffering, was 
necessary from God's view-point, in the 
outstanding instances cited, how can 
you and I expect to escape similar 
chastisements at His hands? If we are 
really His, we will not escape. 

Those of God's creatures who accept 
his plan of redemption and allow Him 
to make of them "vessels unto honor" 
will fully satisfy Him, and the Son 
"will see of the travail of His soul and 
be satisfied." 

Those, however, who reject God's 
gracious plan, having had the fullest 
light, will suffer punishment in hell dur- 
ing the term of Christ's reign over the 
earth — "the thousand years." 

Those not having had full light, will 
remain in their graves till the judg- 
ment of the "Great White Throne," 
when they will be raised and adjudged 
unworthy of life, and will suffer the 

42 



Men Are Not Immortal 



"Second death" — which means what it 
says — death. 

Those having had no light, will, per- 
haps, never be raised from the dead: 
but if it is part of God's plan, that all 
will appear before Him for judgment 
on that day, then this class of His crea- 
tures can certainly suffer nothing more 
than the "second death" : which means 
extinction (See Isa. 26:14). 

This conception of God's great plan 
of the ages, enables one to meet the 
skeptic with a complete answer to his 
charge that the Bible teaches that God's 
method of dealing with the unsaved "is 
not only unreasonable but unmerciful" 

To grasp the view outlined here has 
been such a joy and satisfaction to the 
writer, that I have felt constrained to 
pass it on to others, who, doubtless, 
have been troubled along the same line. 

*£t& I i * • . . . « ,. ...... . 

43 



GOD: THE ONE ETERNAL SPIRIT 



God: The One Eternal Spirit. 

"God is Spirit; and they that worship him must wor- 
ship' him in spirit and truth." John 4:24. 

"The Lord is one," are the words of 
Christ as found in Mark 12 :29, revised 
version, margin. 

How is it possible to accept, literally, 
the teaching of the Trinitarian com- 
mentators, when they assert positively 
that the Godhead consists of Three Per- 
sons, separate and distinct, and abso- 
lutely equal in every attribute? 

To the question: "Are there more 
Gods than one?" They answer rightly: 
"There is but one only, the living and 
true God." 

But to the next question: "How 
many Persons are there in the God- 
head?" their answer is perplexing: 
"There are three Persons in the God- 
head : The Father, the Son and the Holy 
Ghost; and' these three are one God, 
the same in substance, equal in power 
and glory." 

47 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



If the three have existed eternally, 
and are equal in their every attribute, 
how can we escape the charge of be- 
lieving in three Gods? With all think- 
ing men these days demanding a reason 
for the faith professed and taught, is 
it out of place for one who has been 
earnestly and diligently studying the 
Scriptures almost from the very begin- 
ning of his Christian life, nearly forty 
years ago, to tell of gracious light that 
has come to him on this subject? 

During this long time I have heard 
many sermons by our greatest preach- 
ers on the doctrine of the Trinity, but 
not one that was not confusing in its 
teaching. 

Some spoke of the Holy Spirit as the 
"active agent of the Godhead" — others 
said, "He is the executive of the Trin- 
ity" — still others that, "He is the Omni- 
present Comforter." 

Must we believe that the Father and 
the Son are not active agents in the gov- 

48 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 

ernment of the universe? Are they not 
omnipresent? 

Since there is and can be but one 
answer to these questions, why not seek 
some other solution of the age long 
problem, rather than continue to regard 
it and speak of it as "the great mys- 
tery?" 

I recall a statement in a little book, 
"How Christ Came to Church''— that I 
read some twenty years ago, that deep- 
ly impressed me. 

Dr. Gordon, in telling of his wonder- 
ful dream, says : "And in reality, when 
His W ord is preached, Christ is always 
present in the Person of the Holy 
Spirit" Note the words emphasized 
here. Does this not take from Christ 
the attribute of omnipresence and give 
it to the third person of the Godhead — if 
there is such a person? 

Are the inspiring and gloriously com- 
forting words of the "Great Commis- 
sion" (Matt. 28:18-20) not Christ's 
own words? 

49 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 

When Paul said: "I live, yet not I 
but Christ liveth in me/' did he mean 
something else? 

How are we to interpret the follow- 
ing passage in Ephesians 3:14-19? 
"For this cause I bow my knees unto 
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

Of whom the whole family in hea- 
ven and earth is named, 

That He would grant you, according 
to the riches of his glory, to be strength- 
ened with might by His Spirit in the 
inner man; 

That Christ may dwell in your hearts 
by faith; that ye, being rooted and 
grounded in love may be able to com- 
prehend, with all saints, what is the 
breadth, and length, and depth, and 
height ; and to know the love of Christ, 
which passeth knowledge, that ye might 
be filled with all the fulness of God. 9 ' 

If all of the many texts of Scripture 
that clearly teach the indwelling of the 
believer, by God the Father and Jesus 

50 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



Christ, are to be taken metaphorically, 
then it is useless for one to attempt to 
understand the teachings of the Bible. 

What shall we do with the emphatic 
words of 1st Cor. 3 :16? "Know ye not 
that ye are the temple of God, and that 
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" 

The writer has been charged with 
the heresy of not believing in the Per- 
sonality of the Holy Spirit. 

That this is an unjust indictment the 
statement of my belief which follows 
will show. 

We are at once confronted with the 
pertinent question : "If the Holy Spirit 
is not a separate and distinct person- 
ality, then what is He? 

The Scriptures answer without a con- 
tradiction (except apparently in a few 
instances, which will be noted), that 
He is God Himself, in His Spiritual, 
omnipresent, manifestation: the Spirit 
of God and the Spirit of Christ, inter- 
changeable terms. 

\ 51 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



The Spirit of the One is the Spirit of 
the Other. The Holy Ghost is therefore, 
a Person because He is God Himself, 
in His universal, invisible, omnipresent 
manifestation. 

How is it possible, then, for Him to 
be the separate and distinct Third Per- 
son of the Godhead as is usually taught? 

In Galations 4:6, 7, God says, 
through Paul: "And because ye are 
sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of 
his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, 
Father. 

Wherefore thou art no more a ser- 
vant, but a son; and if a son, then an 
heir of God through Christ." 

Again, in Romans 8:9, the Spirit of 
God and the Spirit of Christ are, un- 
questionably, shown to be identical. 

I quote the entire verse : "But ye are 
not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so 
be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. 
Now if any man have not the Spirit of 
Christ, he is none of his." 

52 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 

In John 14:11, Christ says: ''Be- 
lieve me that / (not in the person of 
another person, but Himself) am in the 
Father, and the Father in me: or else 
believe me for the very works' sake." 
Also John 14:20. 

Then Paul, in Ephesians 4 :4-6, says : 
"There is one body, and one Spirit, 
even as ye are called in one hope of your 
calling : One Lord, one faith, one bap- 
tism. One God and Father of all, who 
is above all, and through all, and in you 
all" (the born again ones). 

We now come to the great question : 
What is God? 

God is the eternal, invisible, omni- 
present, self-existent Spirit, infinite in 
love, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, 
and truth; and, in His heavenly mani- 
festation, the same in visible substance 
with the Son. In proof of the last clause 
of this statement, let us look at Philip- 
pians 2:6, "Who, being in the form of 
God, thought it not robbery (or a thing 
to be grasped) to be equal with God." 

53 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



Doctor Scofield quotes with approval 
Thayer's comments on this passage as 
follows : "Form, etc., . . . the form by 
which a person or thing strikes the vis- 
ion, the external appearance." 

Also: Hebrews 1:3, "Who being the 
brightness of his glory, and the express 
image of his person, and upholding all 
things by the word of his power, when 
he had by himself purged our sins, sat 
down on the right hand of the Majesty 
on high." 

If Christ is the express image of the 
Father, then it logically follows that the 
Father is the express image of the Son 
in His corporeal, heavenly manifesta- 
tion. Christ, with a real body of flesh 
and bones (minus the blood, for flesh, 
animated by blood cannot inherit the 
heavens) ascended into heaven, and we 
know that "this same Jesus" shall so 
come back again, just as He went away 
(Acts 1:11). 



54 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



The description given of Christ in 
Revelation 1:14, 15, is identical with 
that of the Father in Daniel 7 :9. 

The Bible teaches from Genesis to 
Revelation that salvation depends, ab- 
solutely, upon our belief in God the 
Father and acceptance of His Son as 
our Savior, but there is not a single pas- 
sage of Scripture that enjoins upon us 
belief in a Third Person of the Godhead. 

In order to give our answer to the 
second question propounded, we ask it 
again: "Are there more Gods than 
One?" 

There is but One Eternal Spirit; but 
there are two visible Persons in the 
Godhead, the Father and the Son, and 
these two are one Spirit, the same in 
substance, equal in power and glory. 

The next question of equal impor- 
tance is, Who is Jesus Christ? 

Christ Jesus is the only begotten Son 
of God; in Spirit, co-eternal and one 
with the Father, therefore omnipres- 

55 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



ent; infinite in love and power, and by 
the decree of God the Father, His equal 
(Heb. 1:8, John 14:9). 

Christ was Before all Things. 

Before the world was Christ was with 
the Father (John 17:5). 

Before the foundation of the world 
God loved Him (John 17:24). 

Before the world began we were 
given to Christ (2 Tim. 1:9). 

Before Abraham was I am, Christ 
said of Himself (John 8:58). 

Before His ascension to heaven He 
had been in heaven (John 6:62). 

Before the foundation of the world 
was foreordained, etc. ( 1st Peter 1 :20) . 

Before all things He was (Col. 1 :17) . 

"In the beginning was the Word, and 
the Word was with God, and the Word 
was God" (John 1:1). 

"The only begotten Son, which is in 
the bosom of the Father, He hath de- 
clared him" — or caused Him to be mani- 
fested (John 1:18). 

56 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



"Who is the image of the invisible 
God, the firstborn of every creature" 
(Col. 1:15). 

"The faithful and true witness, the 
beginning of the creation of God" 
(Rev. 3:14). 

"My Father is greater than I" (latter 
clause of John 14:28). 

"For he hath put all things under his 
feet. But when he saith all things are 
put under him, it is manifest that He is 
excepted, which did put all things under 
him : And when all things shall be sub- 
dued unto him, then shall the Son also 
himself be subject unto Him that put 
all things under him, that God may be 
all in air (1st Cor. 15:27, 28). 

The statement above that, "by the de- 
cree of God the Father, Christ is His 
equal," has been severely criticized on 
the ground that it lowers Christ's stand- 
ing in the Godhead. How could that 
possibly be in view of the great number 
of Scriptures proving, beyond con- 

57 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



troversy, that He is nothing less than 
God's equal — differing only as to 
eternity of existence. 

The Son was with the Father in the 
past eternities, before the creation of 
this earth, and "All things (pertaining 
to this world) were made by him: and 
without him was not anything made 
that was made" (John 1:3). 

Yet, notwithstanding this fact, the 
Bible teaches clearly that He came forth 
from "the bosom of the Father" which 
certainly, was at some time in the eter- 
nities before the creation of the world 
— else how can Col. 1 :15, and Rev. 3 :14, 
be understood? 

God the Father is the Eternal One — 
having neither beginning or end of ex- 
istence — and being the one eternal 
Spirit, all other Spirits emanate from 
Him. 

God's Spirit in all His fulness and in 
a unique way, is in Christ, therefore, in 
Spirit Christ is eternal, because His 

58 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 

Spirit came forth from the bosom of the 
Eternal One. 

How this glorious thought should 
humble us and cause us to have such 
hatred and fear of sin that we shall flee 
from it. 

Think of it — the Spirit of God con- 
descending to actually dwell in a be- 
lieving sinner! "Know ye not that ye 
are the temple of God; and that the 
Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" 

Now, listen to the awful warning im- 
mediately following: "If any man de- 
file the temple of God, him shall God 
destroy; for the temple of God is holy, 
which temple ye are" (1st Cor. 3:16, 
17). 

Every Christian knows and acknowl- 
edges to God, that he has sinned, and 
some of us have had terrible falls since 
we were saved, but if we fully realize 
the depth of the truth we are consider- 
ing, how can we continue to presumpt- 



59 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 

iously sin against this overwhelming 
light? 

If it were not for the fifth verse of 
1st Cor. 5 we would have to believe in 
the possibility of being lost after regen- 
eration. 

Thank God for that passage! 

But what an ignoble thing, to enter 
into life eternal in heaven, after the de- 
struction of the body on account of 
gross sin against God, with the great 
multitude of the redeemed looking on, 
with such a record! Saved, "yet so as 
by fire"— barely slipping into heaven, 
with all works burned up! Dishon- 
ored before God and man— ashamed in 
His presence — doomed to occupy the 
lowest place in heaven throughout 
eternity ! 

When it is possible to have an abun- 
dant entrance— to win the prize of the 
"high calling of God in Christ Jesus" — 
even the exalted privilege of following 



60 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



the Lamb whithersoever He goeth" 
(Rev. 14:4). 

These latter, however, will have built, 
upon the common foundation, with 
"gold, silver and precious stones," ma- 
terials that cannot be destroyed by fire. 

We will now examine the few pass- 
ages that seem to uphold the Trinitarian 
view. John 14:15-20. "If ye love me, 
keep my commandments. 

And I will pray the Father, and he 
shall give you another Comforter, that 
he may abide with you forever; even 
the Spirit of truth; whom the world 
cannot receive because it seeth him not, 
neither knoweth him : but ye know him ; 
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in 
> you. I will not leave you Comfortless : 
I will come to you. Yet a little while, 
and the world seeth me no more; but 
ye see me: because I live, ye shall live 
also. At that day ye shall know that 
I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I 
in you." 

61 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



In the sixteenth verse Christ prom- 
ises that the Father will send another 
Comforter, it is true, but in the eight- 
eenth verse He clearly identifies Him- 
self with that Comforter. 

Christ was referring here to His 
coming in Spirit, on the day of Pente- 
cost — (Acts 2:1-4). While He was on 
earth with the disciples, He was their 
visible Comforter and could breathe on 
them and say: "Receive ye the Holy 
Ghost" — in body and Spirit He was 
with them ; but on the day of Pentecost, 
the latter clause of the sixteenth verse 
was fulfilled — they were then indvjelt 
by the Spirit of Christ — of God. He 
came then to abide in the Church. 

I once heard a famous preacher — 
Bishop . . . — in a sermon on the pass- 
age we are discussing say: "You peo- 
ple are talking too much about the 
Second Coming of Christ— causing, 
thereby, divisions among you ; you for- 
get, as this Scripture teaches, that 

62 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



Christ has already come the second time 
as He promised in John 14:18." 

I was astounded at the time, but the 
suggestion put me to thinking, and the 
result was this study of the great sub- 
ject of the Trinity. I shall always 
acknowledge my indebtedness to that 
preacher. 

In the first three verses of John 14, 
Jesus promises to come again in Per- 
son — the God-man — and receive His 
own unto himself, which, of course, yet 
awaits fulfillment; but in verses six- 
teen to twenty of the same chapter, He 
makes another promise of His coming 
in Spirit — the abiding Spirit, which 
was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. 

In the sixteenth chapter of John 
Christ says: "I have many things to 
say unto you, but ye cannot bear them 
now;" (because they were not, at that 
time, indwelt by His Spirit). 

"However, when he, the Spirit of 
truth, is come, he will guide you into 

63 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



all truth : for he shall not speak of Him- 
self ; but whatsoever he shall hear, that 
shall he speak; and he will show you 
things to come. 

"He shall glorify me : therefore said 
I, that he shall take of mine, and shall 
show it unto you. 

"A little while, and ye shall not see 
me, and, again, a little while, and ye 
shall see me, (in the form of 'Cloven 
tongues like as fire') because I (per- 
sonally) go to the Father' ' (John 
16:12-16). 

In "a little while/' he left them and 
ascended to the Father (Acts 1:9), 
and yet again, in ''a little while," from 
that momentous event, he returns to 
them in His Spiritual manifestation, to 
enter into and abide forever (Acts 
2:1-4). 

This was the coming in Spirit of the 
Father and the Son. 

The meaning, however, is not made 
clear in saying the Spirit came on that 

64 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



day, for most certainly it is a fact, that, 
God, in Spirit, is, and has always been 
equally present everywhere, at all 
times. 

David said: "Whither shall I go 
from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee 
from thy presence? 

"If I ascend up into heaven, thou art 
there : if I make my bed in hell, behold 
thou art there. 

"If I take the wings of the morning 
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the 
sea: 

"Even there shall thy hand lead me, 
and thy right hand shall hold me" 
(Psalm 139). 

Notice the beautiful and comforting 
words of the last verse : God's purpose, 
always, is to lead and hold his children 
— not to punish — that is His "Strange 
work." 

The meaning, then, of the coming of 
the Spirit, is evidently that God began 
on the day of Pentecost, to manifest 

65 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 



Himself in a different and unique way 
to men, by actually entering into and 
dwelling in those who believe. 

lastly, we will consider the passage 
that some say proves, beyond all doubt, 
the doctrine of the Trinity, that is, 1st 
John 5:7. "For there are three that 
bear record in heaven, the Father, the 
Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these 
three are one." 

If this was really the word of God it 
would be unanswerable; but since the 
scholarship of both England and our 
own Country admit that it is spurious, 
by omitting the entire verse, in the Re- 
vised Version and the American Stand- 
ard Version, we therefore reject it. 

Dr. Benjamin Wilson in the Em- 
phatic Diaglott also omits it and com- 
ments as follows: "The received text 
reads, Tor there are three who bear 
witness in heaven, the Father, the Word 
and the Holy Spirit, and these three 
are one. This text concerning the 

66 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 

heavenly witnesses is not contained in 
any Greek manuscript which was writ- 
ten earlier than the fifth century. It is 
not cited by any of the Greek ecclesias- 
tical writers: nor by any of the early 
Latin fathers, even when the subjects 
upon which they treat would naturally 
have led them to appeal to its authority. 
It is therefore evidently spurious; and 
was first cited (though not as it now 
reads) by Virgillius Tapsensis, a Latin 
writer of no credit, in the latter end of 
the fifth century : but by whom forged, 
is of no great moment, as its design 
must be obvious to all — Improved Ver- 
sion." 

As he suggests, some man was trying 
to make the Bible teach that there are 
three Gods of equal standing in the God- 
head. 

From the beginning of God's deal- 
ings with man until the completion of 
Christ's work on the cross, it was the 
Second Person of the Godhead acting, 
principally. 

67 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 

The Jehovah of the Old was the 
Christ of the New Testament and it was 
His business and His joy to take of the 
things of the Father and reveal them 
unto men. 

He came not to glorify Himself, but 
the Father. He came not to do His own 
will but the Father's. 

Now, when Christ had finished His 
work and had ascended to the Father, 
then, God the Holy Spirit, from the 
day of Pentecost, becomes the chief 
actor in taking of the things of Christ 
and showing them unto us, and this will 
continue until all enemies are put under 
His feet and He is enthroned as "King 
of kings and Lord of lords/ ' 

Then, from the beginning of His 
reign over the earth until He turns the 
Kingdom over to the Father, as de- 
scribed in 1st Cor. 15:24-28, He will 
again do all for the glory of God the 
Father. 

In the "Sunday School Times" of 
February 7, 1920, this question is ask- 

68 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 

ed by a correspondent: "Are God the 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost equal, or 
is the Son a little lower than the Father 
and the Holy Ghost a little lower than 
the Son?" 

Which is answered as follows : "Most 
certainly all three Persons of the God- 
head are equal, or else there would be 
only one God with two inferior beings 
less than God. But this would be fatal 
to our salvation, because our Redeemer 
must be God and Man. As Bishop 
Moule says : 'A Savior not quite God is 
a bridge broken at the farther side.' 

"How the Three are One and the 
One is Three, is above our comprehen- 
sion but not against it, for there are 
several illustrations of this in nature 
and human life. 

"We cannot understand how our own 
personality can be absolutely one and 
yet consist of three elements, mind, feel- 
ing, and will. In the New Testament 
divine attributes and acts are ascribed 



69 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 

to each Person of the Trinity without 
any qualification." 

Evidently the South Dakota corres- 
pondent is troubled over the subtleties 
of the Trinitarian exposition of the 
doctrine of the Three Gods in One. 

I wonder if he has derived much 
satisfaction from the above explana- 
tion. Is it real light on the subject? 

To my mind it mystifies more than it 
clarifies. If each Person of the Trinity 
possesses exactly "the same attributes, 
without qualification, then surely we 
have Three Gods, which positively con- 
tradicts the whole tenor of Scripture. 

We add here another specific pass- 
age : " For there is One God, and One 
Mediator between God and men, the 
Man Christ Jesus" (1st Tim. 2:5). 

We fail to observe the weight attri- 
buted by the Editor to Bishop Moule's 
comment: "A Savior not quite God is 
a bridge broken at the farther side." 
God's Bridges never break — are un- 
breakable. 

70 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 

When God the Father said to the 
Son (Heb. 1:8, 10) : "Thy throne, 0 
God, is for ever and ever: (or, Greek, 
is 'for the age') a sceptre of righteous- 
ness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 

"Thou hast loved righteousness, and 
hated iniquity : therefore God, even thy 
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of 
gladness above thy fellows. 

"And, thou, Lord, in the beginning 
hast laid the foundation of the earth: 
and the heavens are the works of thy 
hands" — 

He decreed that every intelligent 
creature in the universe, including 
Satan, the fallen angels and demons, 
must acknowledge the fact of His Son's 
equality with Himself : and the time is 
coming when every knee shall bow and 
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ 
is Lord to the glory of God the Father 
(Phil. 2:10, 11). But does it neces- 
sarily follow that Christ is One of a 
Trinity of Beings, eternally existent, 



n 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 

and of equal attributes, " without any 
qualification," as expressed by the 
Editor? 

On the contrary, we believe the Scrip- 
tures previously cited prove the follow- 
ing facts : That, 

There is One God : 

Manifesting Himself in Three Ways ; 

God the Father— On the Throne of 
the Universe. 

God the Son— At the Father's Right 
Hand. 

God's Spirit — Omnipresent. 

Only Two distinct Persons in the 
Godhead — Father and Son. 

God the Father — Express image of 
the Son. 

God the Son — Express image of the 
Father. 

Hebrews 1 :3. 
Revelation 1 :14. 
Daniel 7 :9. 
John 6:44. 

72 



God: The One Eternal Spirit 

God's Spirit is Christ's Spirit ; there- 
fore, the Holy Spirit is the omnipresent, 
Spiritual Manifestation of both the 
Father and the Son. 

This repetition is for the purpose of 
emphasizing the great truth of the 
Oneness of God the Spirit. 

It is objected : That since we believe 
in One God, in three Manifestations and 
others believe in One God, in Three 
Persons, the difference is too small for 
controversy. 

The important difference lies in the 
great fact that the Trinitarian view 
certainly carries with it the idea of 
Three Eternal Spirits, equal in all at- 
tributes, which, of course, means Three 
Gods : or else it robs God the Father and 
the Son of the attribute of omnipres- 
ence — giving it to the Holy Spirit 
alone: Whereas, the view we are con- 
tending for clears up this age-long diffi- 
culty. 



73 



THE SEVEN RESURRECTIONS 
AND TRANSLATIONS 



The Seven Resurrections And 
Seven Translations. 

Those of us who believe in a "gen- 
eral resurrection," that is, of both 
righteous and wicked at the same time, 
are right, for it is coming at the end. 

Again, those of us who believe in two 
resurrections — one just before the mil- 
lennium and the other at its close — are 
right, for this is also taught. 

Yet, granting all this, it is clearly 
shown that, including the four past 
resurrections, the Bible records Seven, 
distinct, both as to time and class. 

THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 

Excepting that of Christ, the death, 
burial and resurrection of Moses are 
the most marvelous recorded in the 
Word of God. 

Deeply interesting and significant is 
that last chapter of Deuteronomy. 



77 



The Seven Resurrections 

When the eye of this great servant of 
the Lord "was not dim, nor his natural 
force abated," God tenderly took from 
him the breath of life, and himself 
buried him. Think of it! What other 
man was ever so greatly honored in his 
burial? I believe this body of Moses 
has since been raised and carried to 
Heaven. 

There are several passages which 
prove this. Let us look first at Jude 
9: "Yet Michael, the Archangel, 
when contending with the Devil, he dis- 
puted about the body of Moses, durst 
not bring against him a railing accusa- 
tion, but said, The Lord rebuke thee." 

Was Satan contending for the dead 
body of Moses? Certainly not — a dead 
body is of no interest to the Devil — his 
business is to kill, "having the power of 
death." "For as much then as the chil- 
dren are partakers of flesh and blood, 
he also himself likewise took part of the 
same; that through death he might de- 

78 



And Seven Translations 



stroy him that had the power of death, 
that is, the Devil" (Heb. 2:14). 

It follows then that he was striving 
with this great Archangel for the resur- 
rected, natural body of Moses, whom 
God had raised, and was having escort- 
ed to Heaven by a host of angels, doubt- 
less commanded by Michael, through 
Satan's realms, "the heavenlies," sur- 
rounding our earth. 

This is not the only battle in the 
heavens, for a greater one is yet to be 
fought between these mighty beings. 
(Rev. 12:7-9). 

Moses appeared on the Mount of 
Transfiguration accompanied by anoth- 
er man with a similar body, natural in 
a sense, because subject to death — that 
is, Elijah. (Matt. 17:3). 

It is also believed these same two men 
appeared at the sepulchre of Jesus 
after his resurrection and talked with 
the Disciples. 1 ' And it came to pass, as 
they were much perplexed thereabout, 

79 



The Seven Resurrections 



behold, two men stood by them in 
shining garments : 

And as they were afraid, and bowed 
down their faces to the earth, they said 
unto them, Why seek ye the living 
among the dead? 

He is not here, but is risen : remem- 
ber how he spake unto you when he was 
yet in Galilee'' (Luke 24:4-6). 

Again they are present when He as- 
cends into Heaven. "And while they 
looked steadfastly toward heaven as he 
went up, behold, two men stood by them 
in white apparel ; 

Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, 
why stand ye gazing up into heaven? 
This same Jesus, which is taken up 
from you into heaven, shall so come in 
like manner as ye have seen him go into 
heaven" (Acts 1:10, 11). 

And lastly they return to earth as 
His "two witnesses" and suffer death at 
the hands of "the beast that ascendeth 
out of the bottomless pit." See Rev. 

80 



And Seven Translations 

11:1-12. See also in connection, Eli- 
jah's promised coming, Mai. 4:5, 6. 

This prophecy in Malachi was only 
partially fulfilled in John the Baptist. 
Its complete fulfillment is yet future, as 
recorded in Revelation 11. 

Other resurrections are recorded in 
the Old Testament, but none so unique 
as this of Moses. 

THE FIRST TRANSLATION. 

All Christians, whether millenarians 
or not, believe the translation spoken of 
in First Thessalonians, 4:17, and First 
Corinthians, 15:52, will some day be 
realized ; but all have not considered the 
fact that the Bible tells of seven 

TRANSLATIONS, as well as SEVEN RESUR- 
RECTIONS. 

All of these are of practical value and 
interest to the Lord's people, and are 
recorded for our instruction and bene- 
fit. 



31 



The Seven Resurrections 

The First Rapture to attract our at- 
tention is that of Enoch, a short account 
of which is found in the fifth chapter of 
Genesis. 

Why was Enoch translated? Evi- 
dently it was because, through walking 
with God he had become full-grown — 
was blameless in God's sight and ready 
for a higher occupation. 

He was "a man subject to like pas- 
sions as we are;" but notwithstanding 
this fact, his life and walk were pleas- 
ing to God, and He honored him in a 
very remarkable way by taking him to 
Himself, out of a world ready for de- 
struction before that judgment fell. 

What was the theme of Enoch's 
preaching? From Jude fourteen we 
learn that he was the first fanatic (?) 
to preach the doctrine of the second 
coming of Jehovah, the Lord Jesus 
Christ. "And Enoch also, the seventh 
from Adam, prophesied of these, say- 



82 



And Seven Translations 



ing, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten 
thousand of his saints, 

To execute judgment upon all, and to 
convince all that are ungodly among 
them of all their ungodly deeds which 
they have ungodly committed, and of 
all their hard speeches which ungodly 
sinners have spoken against him." 

In what respect should this first rap- 
ture from earth to heaven be a lesson 
of warning to us? To really heed it so 
as to win the prize set before us, a price 
may have to be paid equal to the enor- 
mous one paid by Paul. 

Read the third chapter of Philipians, 
and ask yourself the question : Have I 
grown in grace until I have reached the 
full stature of a man in Christ Jesus? 
Am I walking with God as Enoch did, 
so that I can say with Paul, "For I am 
now ready to be offered, and the time 
of my departure is at hand. I have 
fought the good fight, I have finished 
my course, I have kept the faith. 

83 



The Seven Resurrections 

Henceforth, there is laid up for me the 
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, 
the righteous judge, shall give me at 
that day: and not to me, only, but to 
all them also that love His appearing" 
(2 Tim. 4:6-8). 

Can I honestly say I love the thought 
of the second appearing of the Lord 
Jesus? Without question there are 
probably millions of the Lord's real peo- 
ple who shudder at the thought of His 
possible near coming. This should not 
be true, and would not, but for the er- 
roneous teaching prevalent in our day 
that the coming of the Lord means the 
great and only Judgment Day. 

I believe Enoch's translation was a 
type of the pre-tribulation rapture of 
the "Overcomers" of this age, which 
may occur at any moment. 

Paul was kept in ignorance, not only 
of the day of His coming, but of the 
fact of his own fitness for it, until he 
was ready to be offered. 

84 



And Seven Translations 

An entire life of the intensest ac- 
tivity in the service of his Master with 
the uncertainty hanging over him every 
minute of the time that he might fail 
of attaining unto "the prize of the high 
calling" set before him. 

Now, this being true of Paul, the 
most devoted, the humblest, the might- 
iest Christian the world has ever known, 
should make us hesitate to affirm that 
we know we will be caught up at the 
rapture simply because we know that 
we are saved. 

I made this point (of the partial 
rapture of the saved) once to a dear 
friend in the Lord, who promptly took 
issue with me and asserted that he 
knew he would have part in the com- 
ing rapture. My only reply was, that 
he was sure of something that Paul was 
uncertain of. 

He was an earnest believer in the 
possibility of the coming of Christ "at 
any moment," immediately followed by 

85 



The Seven Resurrections 

the resurrection and rapture to His 
Presence, in the heavenlies above, of all 
the saved of all ages. 

Twenty years ago I believed this as 
sincerely as he, but a long study of the 
subject, with Paul's uncertainties 
always staring me in the face, forced 
me to give it up. 

Before giving up this theory, I was 
much troubled over the twenty-fourth 
and twenty-fifth chapters of Matthew, 
which now fall into line with perfect 
accord. 

How could Christ's second coming 
occur today when he tells us in Matthew 
24:29, that, "Immediately after the 
tribulation of those days shall the sun 
be darkened, and the moon shall not 
give her light, and the stars shall fall 
from heaven, and the powers of the 
heavens shall be shaken" : And in the 
next verse, "And then shall appear the 
sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and 
then shall all the tribes of the earth 



86 



And Seven Translations 

mourn, and they shall see the Son of 
Man coming in the clouds of heaven 
with power and great glory." 

No man, who knows his Bible, will 
undertake to show that this "great 
tribulation/' such as was not since the 
beginning of the world to this day, no, 
nor, "ever shall be" has already come. 
Too many signs and wonders accom- 
pany it to leave any doubt but that it is 
yet future. 

THE SECOND RESURRECTION. 

The resurrection or resuscitation of 
Lazarus and others by the Lord while 
on earth, are familiar to all, and need 
no comment. 

THE SECOND TRANSLATION. 

The next Translation demanding our 
notice is that of Elijah going up into 
heaven by a whirlwind in a chariot of 
fire, as described in Second Kings 
2:11. "And it came to pass, as they 



87 



The Seven Resurrections 

still went on, and talked, that, behold, 
there appeared a chariot of fire, and 
horses of fire, and parted them both 
asunder ; and Elijah went up by a whirl- 
wind into heaven." 

It is believed this is a type of the 
rapture of the Jewish Saints, God's 
earthly people, to the presence of God, 
the "Ancient of Days," at the time of 
the second coming of Christ, when God 
shall bring or cast down from the high- 
est heaven, His thrones and place them 
in the heavenlies above the earth. 

The seventh chapter of Daniel is one 
of the most wonderful passages in the 
Bible. More consideration of this vis- 
ion of Daniel will be given under the 
head of the Sixth Translation. 

THE THIRD RESURRECTION. 

The first spiritual resurrection is that 
of Christ, "that in all things He might 
have the pre-eminence" (Col. 1:18). 

With what kind of a body did he 
come forth from the grave? A body of 

88 



And Seven Translations 

"flesh and bones," minus blood, for 
"flesh and blood cannot inherit the 
kingdom of heaven," animated by- 
spirit, incorruptible and immortal, yet 
in a very real way a natural body, for 
he actually dined with the disciples in 
the upper room after his resurrection. 
Luke 24:36-43, Matthew 27:52, 53, 1st 
Cor. 15:20, and the 28th chapter of 
Matthew should be read in this con- 
nection. 

This same Man is coming back again 
and will give us bodies of the same ma- 
terials, just like His. What a glorious 
Truth ! "Beloved, now are we the sons 
of God, and it doth not yet appear what 
we shall be: but we know that, when 
he shall appear, we shall be like him; 
for we shall see him as he is, 

And every man that hath this hope 
in him purifieth himself, even as he is 
pure." (1st John 3:2, 3). 



89 



The Seven Resurrections 



THE THIRD TRANSLATION. 

The next Translation in order is that 
of the resurrected natural body of 
Moses. 

In the thirty-fourth chapter of Deu- 
teronomy, we have the account of the 
death of this great man of God. His 
death was unnatural, as God simply 
took from a strong, healthy man, whose 
"natural force was not abated," the 
breath of life, and then Himself buried 
him, and no man knows to this day 
where he was buried. 

Since that time this body of Moses 
(perhaps it was never allowed to de- 
cay) has been resurrected and trans- 
lated to heaven. 

Jude nine shows that there was a day 
when Satan disputed with the Arch- 
angel Michael his right to carry the 
body of Moses through his realms above 
and surrounding the earth. It must 
have been the living body of Moses, for 
he appears on the Mount of Trans- 

90 



And Seven Translations 

figuration with Christ and Elijah, and 
talks with them ( Matt. 17:3). See also 
in connection, Acts 1:10 and Luke 
24:4. 

THE FOURTH RESURRECTION. 

The next in point of order is that of 
the "many saints" recorded in Matthew 
27:52, 53. 

These were the Old Testament "He- 
roes of Faith," who chose to suffer in 
order that they might obtain "a better 
resurrection" (Heb. 11:35). 

They were accounted worthy to ac- 
company Him into glory, also. 

Is not this a reasonable interpreta- 
tion of Ephesians 4:8? (Margin). 
"When He ascended up on high He led 
a multitude of captives." 

No doubt Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, 
were chief among the number, but not 
David, as his resurrection is yet future. 
(Acts 2:34). 



91 



The Seven Resurrections 

It is well to remember this partial 
resurrection of God's people in order 
not to be surprised when the same thing 
occurs in the future — possibly in the 
very near future. Who knows? 

THE FOURTH TRANSLATION. 

The next Translation is that of 
Christ and the "many saints" who 
arose after his resurrection, as shown 
above, and then, forty days later, as- 
cended with Him into glory. 

From among this number I believe 
the "four and twenty elders" spoken of 
in the fourth chapter of Revelation were 
chosen. 

When Christ ascended into heaven 
He "led this multitude of captives" as a 
body-guard of honor. 

These especially honored Old Testa- 
ment saints occupy now, and will doubt- 
less in the future occupy, a very high 
position in heaven, but not the highest, 
as it seems clear, from the teachings of 

92 



And Seven Translations 



the New Testament, that the saints of 
this age only have the opportunity of 
attaining unto "the high calling of God 
in Christ Jesus." 

Other thoughts on this interesting 
point will be brought out under the 
head of the next Translation. 

THE FIFTH RESURRECTION. 

The fifth and next in order, is the 
first of the future resurrections, and is 
the one Paul paid such a high price to 
attain unto. 

Read the whole of Philipians, also 
1st Cor. 9:19-27, 15:20-24, 2nd Thess. 
2:6-8, Rev. 2:25-28, 3:20-22, 12:5, 
14:1-5. 

It should be noticed in 1st Cor. 
15:20-24, that the resurrections have 
been, and are to be, in bands or com- 
panies. "But now is Christ risen from 
the dead," and the first fruits (Dean 
Alford says that "become" is not in the 
best manuscripts, and leaving it out 

93 



The Seven Resurrections 

makes it accord exactly with the facts. 
—Matt 27:52-53)— of them that 
slept/' "for as in Adam all die, even so 
in or by Christ shall all be made alive." 
"But every man in his own order (or 
band). Christ's first fruits (future 
— see references above) afterward they 
that are Christ's at his coming. Then 
the band (or company) at the end 
"When He shall deliver up the kingdom 
to God." This is a slight changing of 
the phraseology, but it precisely agrees 
with the facts. 

We have in these five verses refer- 
ence to five resurrections — two past 
and three future. Paul suffered the 
loss of all things that he might have part 
in the first of these three coming resur- 
rections. 

If all of the saved are sure to arise 
at the first of the future resurrections, 
then why was Paul in continual doubt 
of attaining unto it? The simple truth 
is, premillinarians have been affirming 

94 



And Seven Translations 



something here that Paul dared not 
claim. 

This special out-resurrection from 
among the saved dead is promised only 
to the "over comers," like Paul, and the 
Lord's purpose in withholding the as- 
surance of it is to keep us humble and 
dependent upon him. He alone can 
"make of the clay a vessel unto honor." 

This resurrection, together with the 
rapture to the throne of God of the liv- 
ing "overcomers" — "the one hundred 
and forty-four thousand virgins," the 
ones redeemed from among men, being 
"the first fruits unto God and the 
Lamb," may occur at any time. We are 
not warranted in placing anything be- 
tween us and this great event. Who can 
tell when God will catch away to Him- 
self and His throne the "man-child," or 
"manly-child," as Dr. Nathaniel West 
renders it, in Rev. 12:5 — the mystical 
Christ, which is His "Bride." 



95 



The Seven Resurrections 

This is the only thing which restrains 
or hinders the manifestation of the 
anti-christ. 

In 2nd Thess. 2 :7, it is said, "He who 
now letteth (restraineth) will let (re- 
strain) until he be taken out of the way. 
The "He" must mean the mystical 
Christ — the complement of Christ, 
which is His Bride. 

How can it mean, as many teach, that 
the Holy Spirit will be withdrawn from 
the earth? Through whose work will 

the great multitude ivhich no man can 
number, coming out of the "Tribulation 
the great" (Rev. 7) be saved if the 
Holy Spirit ascends with the Bride at 
the rapture? 

When this wonderful event takes 
place, then Satan, through anti-christ 
and the false prophet, will bring on the 
"time of Jacob's trouble," the "great 
tribulation" of which so much is said 
in the Bible. 



96 



And Seven Translations 



THE FIFTH TRANSLATION. 

This will be designated as the "First 
Fruits' ' Translation, synchronizing 
with the first of the future resurrect- 
ions which Paul paid such a high price 
to attain unto, as described above. 

Very little is recorded for our in- 
struction on this important point, but 
it is said that "out of the mouth of two 
or more witnesses shall the truth be es- 
tablished" ; and we are able to produce 
more than two passages giving satis- 
factory proof of our contention. The 
first of these passages, 2nd Thess. 2:7, 
cannot teach that the Holy Spirit will 
be withdrawn at this time, because the 
Spirit of God is and ever will be omni- 
present. 

The above explanation, we know, is 
not the usual interpretation of this pas- 
sage, but we believe it will be difficult to 
disprove it. 

Another passage of like import is 
Rev. 12 :5. "The woman which is ready 

97 



The Seven Resurrections 

to be delivered' 9 evidently means the 
True Church of God which contains 
the "first fruits" unto God and the 
Lamb, the chosen ones out from among 
the saved, by God the Father, for the 
great purpose of constituting the Bride 
of His Son. 

The real Church of God is now ' 'tra- 
vailing in birth and pained to be de- 
livered" of the "man-child," or "manly- 
child" as one translator has it, which is 
very expressive, as none but manly 
children of God are able to stand in 
these days. 

In this connection, the seventh and 
eighth verses of Isaiah sixty-sixth chap- 
ter are interesting: "Before she tra- 
vailed, she brought forth; before her 
pain came, she was delivered of a man 
child. 

Who hath heard such a thing? Who 
hath seen such things? Shall the 
earth be made to bring forth in one day? 
or shall a nation be born at once? for 



98 



And Seven Translations 



as soon as zion travailed, she brought 
forth her children." 

How can these passages be reconciled 
with the twelfth chapter of Revelation? 

Possibly in this way: Before Zion, 
the church of the Old Testament, tra- 
vailed, (how few were looking for the 
Messiah ! ) . She brought forth the Man- 
Child, Christ Jesus: But when Zion, 
the Jewish Church of the end time, tra- 
vails, in "the tribulation the greo.t" just 
ahead of us, she will then "bring forth 
her children" — the one hundred forty- 
four thousand of all the tribes of the 
children of Israel, (Rev. 7:4) ; who will 
enter into the earthly phase of the 
Lord's Kingdom, and through whom all 
the nations of the earth will be blessed. 

Now, in the twelfth chapter of Reve- 
lation, "the Woman, clothed with the 
sun," and being with child, cried, tra- 
vailing in birth and pained to be deliver- 
ed," is, evidently, the New Testament 
Church, which is now suffering, and, 

99 



The Seven Resurrections 

part of her, the Bride of Christ, long- 
ing for His coming, when she will be 
delivered and "caught up unto God and 
His Throne." 

This will be the first act in the Com- 
ing Great Drama. 

In like manner Luke 21 :36, and Rev. 
3:10 can only be so understood. 

The momentous event then, that may 
take place today, of the greatest pos- 
sible moment to every Christian, is the 
rapture to the throne of God, of these 
manly children of God, or mystical 
Bride of Christ. 

This was once pointed out to a 
preacher friend of mine, who looked at 
me for a moment, as though he thought 
I was crazy, and then said: "Non- 
sense; that passage (Rev. 12:5) refers 
to Christ, and Him only. Who is to 
'rule all nations with a rod of iron/ but 
Christ Himself ?" 

I then asked him to turn with me to 
Revelation 2:26-29, and when we had 

100 



And Seven Translations 



finished reading the verses, he looked 
searchingly at me for a moment, but 
said not a word. 

This catching up of the manly chil- 
dren of God, the full-grown ones, those 
who have attained unto the full 
stature of men and women in Christ 
Jesus, to the throne of God in the high- 
est heavens, is the event which every 
Christian snould be preparing for and 
hoping to have a part in. I say 
"hoping," because none of us have a 
right to say that we are sure of being 
accounted worthy to be among this num- 
ber. Again I refer to Luke 21:36. 
"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, 
that ye may be accounted worthy to es- 
cape all these things that shall come to 
pass, and to stand before the Son of 
Man." The promised deliverance to the 
watcher, is from the Great Tribulation, 
described in the context. 

When this Mystical Christ is com- 
pleted, (and who can tell when that will 
101 



il 



The Seven Resurrections 

be?) then God will draw to Himself, 
through Satan's realms, the heavenlies 
surrounding the earth, this chosen, 
elect, first fruits of the Church, and 
present them to His son, without spot 
or blemish, to be His eternal compan- 
ions, His Bride, whose glory it will be to 
go about with Him "whithersoever he 
goeth." 

These are not only children of God, 
heirs of God, but Joint Heirs with 
Christ, having won this greatest gift of 
God through suffering with Christ, 
thereby filling up the remainder of His 
sufferings. 

This passage in Romans 8:17 is 
another one in which too much has 
been taken for granted by most Christ- 
ians; for it clearly teaches that a con- 
dition is attached to joint heirship with 
Christ. Second Timothy 2:11, 12 also 
clearly teach that there is a marked dis- 
tinction in the ranks of the saved. 



102 



And Seven Translations 

The "Ifs" of the Bible have not been 
given their proper significance in the 
teaching from the pulpit. Listen to this 
passage from Second Timothy: "for if 
we be dead with Him, we shall also live 
with Him: // we suffer, we shall also 
reign with Him." 

THE SIXTH RESURRECTION. 

This should be called The Great 
Resurrection because the second com- 
ing of Christ is at this time, and there 
will be gathered before Him, in their 
order, many different companies, or 
classes of both saved and unsaved. 

Again, it is especially great, for the 
reason that God, the Father, takes this 
occasion to honor His Son by coming 
forth from heaven with "ten thousand 
times ten thousand" accompanying 
Him, and places His throne in the 
"heavenlies" above the earth (Dan. 
7:9,10). 

Immediately following this marvel- 
ous scene, the Son of Man appears, with 

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The Seven Resurrections 

the "clouds of heaven," and comes to 
the Ancient of Days, and they bring 
Him near before Him — the Father. 
Who are "they" in this sentence? With- 
out doubt, the Old Testament heroes, 
who ascended with Him into heaven, 
(Acts 1:9, Eph. 4:8, margin) and the 
prize-winners — the overcomers, the 
bride, who had previously had part in 
the "out-resurrection" from among the 
dead. 

In a note in the Schofield Bible on 
this passage he says: "The vision 
(Dan. 7:9-14) reverses the order of 
events as they will be fulfilled." 

What right has anyone to make such 
a statement? Why should it be re- 
versed? To understand the vision in 
the order written contradicts no order 
of events given in the New Testament, 
and adds grandeur and glory to the 
scene. This is God's time for publicly 
investing His Son with the Kingdom 
and everlasting dominion. 1st Thess. 



104 



And Seven Translations 

4:14-17, 1st Cor. 15:23, the latter 
clause, Rev. 11:12-18, Matt. 25:31-46, 
and Rev. 20 :4, will be fulfilled at this 
time. 

THE SIXTH TRANSLATION. 

The next translation, the sixth in 
order, should be called "The Great 
Translation/ ' because at this time all 
who "remain" of the Church of this 
dispensation will be caught up unto God 
and His Son to the place in the heaven- 
lies to which God the Father has 
brought down and placed His thrones, 
preparatory to turning over the king- 
doms of this world to His Son. 

As before stated this is the time of 
the second coming of Christ. 

Again we call your attention to the 
seventh chapter of Daniel, which we 
consider of so much importance in con- 
nection with the study of this subject. 

After the catching up to heaven of 
the "first fruits unto God and the 
Lamb," those who are to be the eternal 

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The Seven Resurrections 

companions of Christ, and the Great 
Tribulation is about to close, God the 
Father, the Ancient of Days, comes 
forth from the third heaven, the place 
of His present visible abode, and sets 
up His seat of judgment in, perhaps, 
close proximity to this earth. 

It has always been taught that the 
next great event Christians should be 
looking forward to is the second com- 
ing of Christ, but if the interpretation 
believed by the writer is correct, then 
the second coming of Christ is the 
fourth event in order in the coming 
great drama. 

First: the rapture to God's throne 
of the "overcomers" of this age, noth- 
ing necessarily intervening. 

Second: the coming of anti-christ 
and the Great Tribulation, to last, per- 
haps, seven years. 

Third: the coming from the place of 
God's present abode, the third heaven, 
of God Himself, "with thousand thou- 

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And Seven Translations 

sands ministering unto Him," to the 
heavenlies near our earth. 

Fourth: Following this most won- 
derful scene Daniel saw "One like the 
Son of Man corning with the clouds of 
heaven, and came to the Ancient of 
Days." 

If this order of coming events is true 
(and is it not a reasonable interpreta- 
tion?) how strange it is that our atten- 
tion has never been called to the mar- 
velous fact that God, our Father, may 
very soon reveal Himself in visible 
glory, clothed in garments "white as 
snow," for the express purpose of turn- 
ing over to His Son the kingdoms of 
this world, "that every knee shall bow 
and every tongue confess that He is 
Lord to the glory of God." 

The writer was once charged with 
heresy because of the belief that God, 
the Father, in His heavenly manifesta- 
tion, is a visible person, the Son being, 
as is said in Hebrews 1:3, "the ex- 

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The Seven Resurrections 

PRESS IMAGE OF HIS PERSON." In the 

argument much stress was laid upon 
the passage "God is spirit, and they that 
worship Him must worship Him in 
spirit and in truth." 

This, of course, was allowed its full 
force but the question was asked, "Is 
not Christ also spirit, and yet has he 
not an actual, visible body in heaven 
today?" Then, as that must be grant- 
ed, why not believe Daniel 7:9, and He- 
brews 1 :3, to mean just what they say? 
For my part, I look forward to the time, 
after we get our spiritual bodies, when 
we shall see our Father face to face, and 
thank Him for His wonderful love to 
us. It cost Him as much to give the 
Son as it did the Son to die for us. The 
Holy Spirit is the invisible, omnipres- 
ent, manifestation of both the Father 
and the Son. 

After the thousand years' reign of 
Christ, when "He has put all enemies 
under His feet," then, in His turn, He 

m 



And Seven Translations 

will deliver the kingdom perfected to 
God the Father, the Son Himself be- 
coming subject unto Him, that God may- 
be all in all. This is no contradiction 
of Daniel 7:4, because Christ's king- 
dom will be everlasting, but, of course, 
subject unto the Father. 

Other proof texts that God Himself 
is first to come from heaven to close 
proximity to our earth at the time of 
the second coming of Christ, are found 
in Titus 2 :13. "Looking for that bless- 
ed hope and the glorious appearing of 
the great god and our Savior Jesus 
Christ." Acts 3:19, 20. "Repent ye 
therefore, and be converted, that your 
sins may be blotted out, when the times 
of refreshing shall come from the pres- 
ence of the Lord; — and he shall send 
Jesus Christ, which before was preach- 
ed unto you." 

We have here, three passages, bear- 
ing witness to the fact that God, the 
Father, is first to come near this earth 



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The Seven Resurrections 

from heaven before the coming of 
Christ. Daniel 7 :9-14, Titus 2 :13, and 
Acts 3:19, 20. 

THE SEVENTH RESURRECTION. 

This last is in a sense a "general 
resurrection/' because at this time the 
last of the wicked and some of the saved 
who have remained in their graves dur- 
ing the millennium — possibly many mil- 
lenniums — will be raised from the dead. 

Pre-millenarians usually contend 
that there will be no righteous in 
this last resurrection (Rev. 20:11-15). 
If not, then why is the "Book of Life" 
opened? Again, why the statement, 
"Whosoever was not found written in 
the Book of Life was cast into the lake 
of fire," if God is dealing only with the 
wicked at this judgment? 

No ; it seems clear that there are some 
out of all ages whose names are writ- 
ten in the Book of Life, therefore saved, 
"yet so as by fire." 

no 



And Seven Translations 

"And many of them that sleep in the 
dust of the earth shall awake, some to 
everlasting life, and some to shame and 
everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2). 

Since this passage clearly teaches 
the partial resurrection of some, of 
both wicked and righteous what is in- 
congruous in the belief that all the rest 
of the dead who remain in their graves 
during the millennium, some of both 
righteous and wicked, will be then 
raised at the post-millennial judgment 
of the Great White Throne? (Rev. 
20:11-15). 

THE SEVENTH TRANSLATION. 

The next and last Translation is that 
of Moses and Elijah, for the second 
time, as recorded in Revelation eleventh 
chapter; "When they shall have finish- 
ed their testimony, the beast that as- 
cended out of the bottomless pit shall 
make war. against them and shall over- 
come them and kill them, and their dead 
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The Seven Resurrections 



bodies shall lie in the street of the great 
city which spiritually is called Sodom 
and Egypt, where also our Lord was 
crucified, and they of the peoples and 
kindreds and tongues and nations shall 
see their dead bodies three days and a 
half, and shall not suffer their dead 
bodies to be put in graves, and they that 
dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over 
them and make merry, and shall send 
gifts one to another because these two 
prophets tormented them that dwelt on 
the earth, and after three days and a 
half the Spirit of Life from God enter- 
ed into them and they stood upon their 
feet; and great fear fell upon them 
which saw them, and they heard a great 
voice from heaven say unto them, Come 
up hither, and they ascended up to hea- 
ven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld 
them." 

SUMMARY — RESURRECTIONS. 

1. — Moses. Deuteronomy 34 ; Jude 9 ; Rev. 
12:7-9; Matt. 17:3; Acts 1:10. 

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And Seven Translations 



2. — Lazarus and Others. John 11 :43-44 ; 
Acts 9:40; Acts 20:9. 

3. Christ — The First Spiritual Resurrection. 
Col. 1:18; Luke 24:36-43; 1 Cor. 15:20 (first 
clause). 

4. —' ' The Many Saints"— After His Resur- 
rection. Matt. 27 :52, 53 ; Heb. 11 :35 ; Eph. 4 :8 
(margin) ; 1 Cor. 15:23 (last clause). 

5. — The Bride of Christ — The out resurrect- 
ion. Phil. 3:11; 1 Cor. 15:23 (first clause). 

6. — The Great Resurrection at His Coming. 
1 Thess. 4:14-17; 1 Cor. 15:23 (last clause). 

7. — The Last or "General Resurrection." 
Rev. 20:11-15; 1 Cor. 15:24. 

SUMMARY — TRANSLATIONS. 

1. — Enoch. Genesis 5 :24. 

2. — Elijah. 2 Kings 2:11. 

3. — Moses. Deuteronomy 34; Eph. 4:8 (mar 
gin) ; Jude 9. 

4. — Christ and the "Many Saints." Acts 
1:9, 10; Eph. 4:8 (margin). 

5. — The "First Fruits" of the Church. Rev. 
12:5; Luke 21:36; 2 Thess. 2:7; Rev. 3:10. 

6. — Those Who "Remain" of the Church. 
Dan. 12:2; 1 Thess. 4:15-17. 

7. — Moses and Elijah, Second Translation. 
Revelation 11. 



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